Brussels, 13/02/2013 (Agence Europe) -European Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding is preparing to launch a public consultation and concrete initiatives to tackle female genital mutilation in March. During the period of the consultation, a conference, organised with other Commissioners, on the fight against violence against women will be held.
The commissioner expressed her intentions in a video message recorded as part of the “One Billion Rising” campaign to eradicate violence against women. This campaign will culminate in an international demonstration, V-Day, on 14 February. The commissioner reaffirmed that she was committed to putting an end to all forms of violence against women and to protecting the women who are victims of violence: “Next month I will launch a series of activities to uphold the right of women victims of violence and to put an end to female genital mutilation”. A public consultation is expected to take place on 5 March next. Reding intends to, “call on key expert and on the public to give views on how best to fight female genital mutilation and lead people to abandon such a practice”. She also stated that “I want this consultation to lead to concrete actions to fight female mutilation in the EU and across the world”. She hammered home the message that “you can count on me to take action to combat violence against women in all its form and you can count on me to keep pressing this message as long as it is necessary. Women shouldn't suffer from violence simply because they are women”. (MD/transl.fl)